SENTINEL 555: WAR ✔

24 ALIVE

Sengo, sweat glistening from his brow, trembled until he stepped into his wall panel and closed his eyes. The relief to spread through him confused Oni to no limit.

Didn't he want to come out?

If the way Sento looked equally relieved upon finding his own resting place was any indication, then no.

Oni scanned the walls once the panels closed, bringing white against white. Now that he knew what to look for, he counted five similar enough indicators.

"How—how many of you are there?"

Sen scooped Pleasant up. He took a moment to heft her, securing his hold before he said, "One. There's only one of me."

Somehow, the answer didn't satisfy Oni. Sen stepped past and Oni gave chase.

He didn't want to ask but couldn't help it. "You said you weren't designed for healing. Then what were you designed for?"

Save for the gentle ticking of unseen dials and machines, the black of the hall held nothing for them.

Sen had no intention of answering so Oni settled for something else as he stumbled in his effort to keep up with the boy's speed.

"Then how many of you are there? His name was Sengo. Doesn't that mean five? There are five of you?"

If not for the gentle glow of Sen's matrix against his hip, Oni feared he might lose track of him entirely.

"There's one medic for every ten of us."

Oni's world crumbled. He tripped but recovered and ran to catch up. "But there were five panels...five medics." At the silence, he asked, "Are there really fifty of you?"

Sen came to a stop and met him face to face though it was difficult to tell in this hallway.

"There's one of me. One. One and only one of me."

He didn't sound convinced.

Oni's heart thumped against his ribcage. He wasn't sure why until he made the mistake of glancing to his right. At this close proximity to Sen's matrix, a part of the wall came into dim view.

It was another panel. But this one...had a glass window.

Another clone slept.

This time when Oni screamed, he managed to bite it back with a sharp intake of breath.

Fear was a slow creeping sensation but it traveled all the way up his spine until the hairs on the back of his head stood at attention.

"I'm one of a kind," Sen said again.

Oni risked tearing his eyes off the clone to meet his gaze.

Sen blinked at him. Terror spread across his face and he regarded Oni in confusion, eyes wild.

He nearly dropped Pleasant but recovered.

A gentle tap prompted the both of them to focus on the pod of the clone. The boy behind the glass waved and grinned at them.

Sen looked down at himself and gasped. He nearly rushed the panel but corrected his action and held his ground.

Oni looked between them, confused, then turned to face the clone behind the glass yet again.

Doubtful, he leaned in and asked, "Sen?"

The grin on the clone's face widened before his body swooned. He jerked awake in seconds, panic registering in his eyes. Once he realized he was back in his pod, he calmed but not by much. The gaze to regard Sen now held betrayal if not fear.